Kusazuri

[md02geist]

On dou, particularly on sendai dou, was there a popular number of kusazuri to have, or a number that was more common than others?

[Geraint]

Hi Rob.

 

For what it's worth my Sendai do has six. You will probably get much better answers if you post this enquiry in the katchu section of the board.

 

Regards

[md02geist]

thanks!

[Luc T]

normally a Yukinoshita has 7 gessan

[estcrh]

From Anthony Bryant's online armor manual.

 

http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchu.html

Kuzazuri

 

To keep things straight, I should clarify a point of terminology. When I speak of “sets” of kusazuri, I refer to vertical rows of tassets. When I speak of “lames,” I refer to the individual plates in a set. A dô may have five sets of kusazuri with four lames; that is, five tassets ringing the body, each with four hanging plates.

 

There is no set rule as to the number of sets of kusazuri, or of lames. The lower the number of lames, the cheaper the armour. Retainer armours will have as a rule three or four lames, while armour for the rank and file will have five and (rarely) six. Most commonly an armour will have six or seven sets. If there is an odd number, the odd kusazuri is, of course, front and center protecting the goolies. One feature of the yukinoshita dô is the extreme number of narrow sets — often eleven.

 

Retainer-grade armours will have the yurugi ito (suspensory lacing) in sugake. All other armours will typically have kebiki-laced yurugi ito, even when the rest of the armour is laced in sugake odoshi. The yurugi ito is 4"–6" long; in ô-yoroi, however, the yurugi ito is no longer than any other row of suspensory lacing.

 

One alternative to suspensory lacing which appeared in the latter half of the sixteenth century is the suspensory panel. A leather panel or a lightly padded cloth faced in mail takes the place of the yurugi ito. Occasionally, a few rows of odoshige would be run in-and-out down each panel as an accent, to give the impression of lacing.

 

Another feature appearing about this same time is the removable kusazuri. Instead of being suspended directly from the dô, the kusazuri hang from a narrow belt of leather that is itself attached to the dô at several spots by pairs of ties going through small holes. Sakakibara Kôzan considered removable kusazuri to be a practical feature, given that it made armours easier to stow, and that they made it easier to ford shallow rivers by simply removing the kuzazuri so they wouldn’t get soaked.